Vinalines, Chinese Firms Build US$300-Mln Port
The Vietnam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines) and the China Merchants Group Ltd. (CMG) have reached a contract to establish a joint venture to build a US$300-million port, Vietnam News Agency reported September 12.
The international container port covering an area of 166 hectares will be located in southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau province.
Work on the port is scheduled to start next year and complete in 2011. The port will be able to serve 80,000 DWT ships.
Previously, Vinalines and CMG had inked an agreement with the China Development Bank on credit granting to implement the project.
Cai Mep International Terminal Company, a Vietnam-Denmark joint venture, May 28 began construction on a US$250-million international container port in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province.
The Cai Mep container port, to be built over 48 hectares on the Cai Mep river, is designed to have an annual capacity of 1.1 million TEUs.
Once operational by the end of 2010, the terminal will able to serve up to 160,000-ton vessels, he added.
Vietnam is now home to some 260 seaports with nine ports to be upgraded to handle 50,000 DWT cargo ships or 3,000 TEU container ships.
The country needs US$5 billion to build and upgrade its seaport systems from now to 2010, aiming to handle 250 million tons of cargo in 2010 and 550 million tons in 2020. (VNA)
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